It was the morning of Saturday August 18th and my mother walked in at 8:40 AM, water dripping from her freshly washed hair, and said that I had twenty minutes left to sleep in. She had wanted me to go accompany her to the Murugan Temple annual festival where the deity strolls around the temple in an extravagant chariot surrounded by faithful worshippers. I was over it. Over the years, I have come to realize that my body is my temple and meditation was the strongest form of prayer and thus lost interest in visiting temples in general. I hadn’t gone to Val-Morin temple that much either this year, and the idea of getting squashed in a crowd at Murugan temple wasn’t appealing to me. I told my mother that if she bought me popcorn and cotton candy that I would go. She agreed. And so I woke up at 9:00 AM and headed to the shower.
I spent the better part of my morning getting ready and finally at 11:30 AM, drove off with my cousins and aunt to the temple. Once we parked and started walking towards the temple, I noticed the crowd. Never had I seen such a crowd this size at this temple before. Wow. I was pleasantly surprised. And then it dawned on me. That all these people, driven to this one place by their faith in God, or to check out girls/boys, to eat the popcorn/cotton candy (me), or just to get see what the festival was all about were all the same place at the same time. It was incredible to me how many people were here at this very moment. Most of these people were brought here by their faith in God. And Faith is a beautiful thing. As I was contemplating this, I ran into some old friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years and it was so refreshing and wonderful to see them. And then I heard Gretchen Rubin in my ear saying, “improved social interactions improve one’s state of mind” and it was very true. I was definitely glad I came. Faith had brought them here. Faith was the reason people had showed up.
I stood outside for a bit and when the crowd subsided, I made my way into the temple to ‘pray’. It was the first time I was in a temple and didn’t formally pray. I stood in front of the deity with my hands in prayer but I did not pray. I observed. I watched people pray. I used to stand in front of the statues for ten-twenty minutes at a time praying and chanting in my head. And now, I was standing there watching people. And what I observed stunned me. People of all ages, of all backgrounds, came to this one place to put their hands together, to bow their heads down, and to pray to a higher power. And it was genuine. I made the tour of all the deities and finally was back to the front of the temple and sat down with my mother. Yet again, my old self would’ve gone into a meditative state but, this time I observed. People prayed, while children played and ran around, the priests were busy doing pujas, people were tugging at each other to get through, some were up-dressed, others were simple, some smiled at familiar faces as they passed by while others were fixed on their prayers.
Faith was a beautiful thing. It brought people together to this one place where most seek refuge from their everyday problems, where they can speak to God, reconnect with old friends, eat some wonderful food, and enjoy the great weather. People still had faith, they believed that there was still a God despite the tragedies and wrong-doings going on in the world and in their own lives. People still had faith in God. And that renewed my faith in humanity.
I spent the better part of my morning getting ready and finally at 11:30 AM, drove off with my cousins and aunt to the temple. Once we parked and started walking towards the temple, I noticed the crowd. Never had I seen such a crowd this size at this temple before. Wow. I was pleasantly surprised. And then it dawned on me. That all these people, driven to this one place by their faith in God, or to check out girls/boys, to eat the popcorn/cotton candy (me), or just to get see what the festival was all about were all the same place at the same time. It was incredible to me how many people were here at this very moment. Most of these people were brought here by their faith in God. And Faith is a beautiful thing. As I was contemplating this, I ran into some old friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years and it was so refreshing and wonderful to see them. And then I heard Gretchen Rubin in my ear saying, “improved social interactions improve one’s state of mind” and it was very true. I was definitely glad I came. Faith had brought them here. Faith was the reason people had showed up.
I stood outside for a bit and when the crowd subsided, I made my way into the temple to ‘pray’. It was the first time I was in a temple and didn’t formally pray. I stood in front of the deity with my hands in prayer but I did not pray. I observed. I watched people pray. I used to stand in front of the statues for ten-twenty minutes at a time praying and chanting in my head. And now, I was standing there watching people. And what I observed stunned me. People of all ages, of all backgrounds, came to this one place to put their hands together, to bow their heads down, and to pray to a higher power. And it was genuine. I made the tour of all the deities and finally was back to the front of the temple and sat down with my mother. Yet again, my old self would’ve gone into a meditative state but, this time I observed. People prayed, while children played and ran around, the priests were busy doing pujas, people were tugging at each other to get through, some were up-dressed, others were simple, some smiled at familiar faces as they passed by while others were fixed on their prayers.
Faith was a beautiful thing. It brought people together to this one place where most seek refuge from their everyday problems, where they can speak to God, reconnect with old friends, eat some wonderful food, and enjoy the great weather. People still had faith, they believed that there was still a God despite the tragedies and wrong-doings going on in the world and in their own lives. People still had faith in God. And that renewed my faith in humanity.
| Here are some pics from my oh-so-handy-dandy LG phone! Above is the charriot carrying the deity ready to head out on its parade, the bottom left is an image of the crowd and to the right is one of the coconut breaking ritual when the charriot is about to complete the tour. |  |  |
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